The movie life
by lucky7777
Summary: When a girl clad in a dress asked me to be in a movie, the first thought in my head was "Aren't you a bit young to be a director?". Too bad she didn't take no for an answer. Now? I'm in the lead role of a movie. It wouldn't be that bad if it wasn't for the fact shenanigans seems to happen on a daily basis. Oh cruel life.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY

**The movie life**

In a world where Grimm infested every dark corner, a tragedy was bound to occur. People shed tears for lost ones or we hear stories of criminal scum committing acts of terror that would frighten any man.

Every day events like that happened but most people brushed it off thinking it didn't concern them. Me? I wallowed in it. I had to if I wanted to survive in this world of business I'm in. Someone needs to look in the abyss.

My family was against my decision but I knew my calling. A detective goes where he's needed after all.

It was a cold afternoon when she came in. Knocking three times, a blonde girl entered with a gait that put me on edge. I had my fair share of experience with the female race, more than a few failures, but I can tell when a girl means business.

Stopping in front of my desk, she gave me a once over. I was dressed in my detective outfit. A beige trench coat with my black fedora. I couldn't fault her for checking. I was a man who swam through the scum of the Earth and it showed.

"You look stupid," the blonde girl said. I gave her a reply that befitted an ignorant girl like her.

"I know you are but what am I?" Her mouth dropped open like she was staring into death himself.

Reading my next lines on the script, I put together what she wanted. Don't want to keep a lady waiting after all.

"So Miss Xiao Long, I assume you require my assistance looking for someone."

Her jaw snapped shut and her eyes turned dangerous. That prickling feeling at the back of my neck returned with a vengeance.

"How do you know who I am?" I stood and turned towards the open window. My eyes darted across the blood-red horizon that was painted on the background.

"There's been some reports about a blonde girl and going through bars searching for someone." I paused letting that sink in. "A girl who uses gauntlets to fight and rides a motorcycle." I twisted to face her and the special effects guy (Ren) turned on the large fan behind me. The result was my trench coat billowing and my fedora blowing off my head. Need to practice that some more.

She caught my hat with a swipe and smirked at me.

"I guess word spreads around doesn't it?" she said. I simply nodded, it was the truth.

She took the seat across my desk and carelessly tossed my hat back to me. Dirt was on it...

I'll make her pay for that.

Literally.

"My services don't come cheap. Especially with a case like this one." People go missing for a reason after all, good or bad they don't want people to normally look for them.

"Money won't be an issue. I just want you to find this person." She took out her scroll, presenting me with a picture of a black haired woman. Clearly her mother judging by the features. I should know, people tell me I resemble my father. That and the script I had read said so.

At the time I should have given it more thought. A red storm was approaching and I was ignorant of it. A job like mine? I should have expected it. Darkness haunts every shadow and this case had a shadow bigger than an eclipse. It reeked of that dirty stench found only in an alley where crime is commonplace.

But I didn't.

So I accepted the case and the day where I was thrown into a bloody whirlwind began.

...

...

"Is that okay?" I asked.

Out behind the fake walls, Ruby burst in through the door with a grin on her face.

"That was perfect, your narration will draw the crowd in like moths to a flame. We're definitely going to win the competition. I can see it now, team RWBY and JNPR standing at the award ceremony. The host going on about our works."

Ruby went off on a tangent and I spoke when she stopped for a breath.

"Haha yeah, I did sound pretty suave. I think I might even attract a certain snow angel." If said snow angel was here I would be raising my eyebrows up and down romantically. Weiss was busy with other things though and wasn't here so I settled for raising my eyebrows at Yang.

"Yeah, maybe when she finally starts paying attention to you," Yang cut in. "I think you've asked her out every day and all she's given you is the cold shoulder."

She looked around expecting laughs.

We ignored her.

Ren came in with Nora in tow. As usual Nora was yammering on about some topic while Ren was patiently listening (or ignoring?) her.

"Hey Nora, Ren you guys did great with the special effects. You even managed to make Jaune's hat fly off. I mean I know it wasn't part of the script but it sure as heck looked good. "

"Thanks Ruby! Ren here couldn't get the black and white lighting right but he said he's going to work on it later. I'll make sure he does it, he was slacking off all day waiting for Jaune!"

"Hey! Make up takes a lot of time."

Ren being the silent guy he is nodded.

Searching the stage I asked. "Where's Pyrrha? I haven't seen her all day."

"I'm over here!"

Up above the stage, Pyrrha was on the scaffolding adjusting the stage light.

"Pyrrha! How long have you been there?"

"Not long!" Pyrrha called. "I heard Nora mention the stage light needed to be put in the right position so I'm moving them myself."

"Ahh wait Pyrrha!" shouted Ruby. "That's not the right direction move it a bit to the left."

"Here?"

"A bit more."

"Like this?"

"Now right a bit."

"How about now?"

"Hmm, just a teeny tiny bit to the right."

"Is this OK?"

"Perfect!"

"Ruby, the stage light didn't even move from its original position!" I pointed at the light in question.

"What? It obviously moved." said Ruby offended

"I'm inclined to agree with Jaune. I don't see the difference."

"Same here."

"And me"

"Sorry sis, you're outnumbered."

She pouted and crossed her arms.

"Fine, but it doesn't really matter anyway." Like a switch, her mood flipped back. "Let's film the next part now! Jaune you memorised the lines?"

"Uhh sorta, I don't get why I have to go dumpster diving though."

"Oh Jaune, that's what all detectives do! Come on! I got some trash bags ready to be dived in."

I heaved a sigh and put myself into place.

...

...

It was dead silent that moonless night. Miss Xiao Long, or Yang as she prefers, left and needed the time to prepare for the upcoming trip to Patch. In my line of work you need every bit of rest you can get. One moment you're walking down the streets, the next you're fighting off some would be murderer. It was a vicious cycle but life is a vicious cycle as well and we all need to ease our way out.

Too bad I'm a workaholic.

Ever since that fateful day when I realized my calling I couldn't sleep. Some doctors would say I have too much stress. Yeah well living in such a crap sack world would give any man stress. Heh, guess there's no rest for the wicked.

That Yang girl. She was dangerous, confident and held an air of grasping what she wants when she wants. I know woman like her, the sort to play with their victims before shunting them off to their grave. Yet something about her was different from them. Maybe it was the way her eyes danced or the way she held herself? I can't be sure, not when it comes to her.

I will say she holds my interests though.

I decided to go out for some cold air. My empty office, where I try and fail to sleep, is more of a cage than a home. My parents always said that I can still live with them, they're good people, they know how to treat you right. Not that I deserve it, too many mistakes are on my hands to live my life comfortably.

Plus living with seven sisters was kind of annoying. They're all younger than me, seriously they made me dress up as girl and danced with them because they needed a boy to practice on! My parents were laughing at the scene. I think it might even be recorded it on my mom's scroll...

Anyway, tired of the monotonous home life, I sought out case after case. Sometimes they wanted pictures of their partner cheating on them, sometimes they wanted me to investigate some old dusty case and sometimes the case was a fake for some bigger conspiracy.

I knew it made me cynical. That it twisted my beliefs. I saw the world in shades of grey (literally), but I persevered for my next pay-check.

Vale was an old city. Building long past their expiry date were common among the streets. Only bigwigs like the Schnee family could ever afford half decent living areas.

Walking through the streets, I noticed a lack of people mulling about. I'm in the seedier part of town where it's more common to be a victim of a crime than to not. I had that itch again. That itch where something's about to happen.

A teenager with bows in her hair suddenly came out from the alleyway and blocked my path.

Taken aback, I mistimed my next step and crashed into her.

"Ah!"

"Oh damn, Blake are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just slipped up a little."

"No, no it was my fault. I knew you were coming out but I didn't react in time."

"Okay cut, cut!" Ruby, with her speaker, yelled from the other side of the stage. "Jaune, be more coördinated. We only got a couple of weeks to film this."

"Sure director. I'll do my best."

"Ahh Jaune," said Pyrrha, who was now on the stage. "You can get off Blake now. I'm sure she doesn't like being crushed."

"Oh right, sorry Blake. I'll buy you the drink that you love so much."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." I grabbed her hand and hauled her up. She nodded gratefully and I smiled at her.

Pyrrha stormed off after that.

What's with her?

"OK! Everyone in their positions again...and action."

A teenager with bows in her hair suddenly came out from the alleyway and blocked my path.

"You shouldn't pursue that case." She was quiet yet I knew she was similar to me. She had the same pessimistic eyes as me, that same tone. Even her clothes indicated her attitude with a black theme.

It was as if we were two sides of the same coin.

"Oh? Why ever not?"

"Because you'll be killed. There are people out there who would like certain secrets to stay with the dead." Heh, I expected to be a target eventually. Still it's better to know who's out to get you than to find myself at death's door without any idea of who sent me there.

"And how do you know this?"

"I worked with them."

I was silent more due to the fact she revealed her secret than as to its contents.

"I'm surprised you're telling me. Some would say it's bordering foolishness."

"I trust you're a man to not take advantage of that."

She was right. Even in my disgusting profession there are certain lines I don't cross. Blackmailing being one of them.

Her words and my assessment clashed. Would a pessimistic girl say those words? My instinct usually guided me but today it must have ran away because I couldn't think up a response.

"Well you pegged me as the right guy then. How did you know I took this case. Barely hours had gone past and here you are."

"...I have my ways." The street lights flickered and I swore I saw her yellow eyes glow.

"That's sounds ominous."

Just how I lived my life.

"I am a ninja. I can create clones."

I stared unsure what to say back. Those lines weren't in the script.

She stared back.

Then she puffed away with some smoke leaving me coughing (Damn it Ren, you over did it with the smoke).

In my life as a detective, I can safely say that even that spectacle didn't rank in my top ten weirdest moments... wait why am I still narrating?

"Ruby what was that?"

"I don't know? My original script didn't have that scene."

We all gathered and compared our scripts. Only mine and Ruby were the correct ones.

"Urgh," groaned Ruby. "Filming is stopping for now. I need to investigate this and print out some correct copies."

We bid her and Yang farewell. Ren and Nora soon left afterwards, well more like Nora dragged Ren away. Actually Ren doesn't seem to mind anything. Really what goes on in that head of his? What mysterious thoughts plague the man in the background? What does his eyes see? What inhumane ideas ran behind the man who stands with Nora's craziness?

Okay that's too much, I need to separate my character from my actual personality.

"So Blake about that drink. Wanna go grab it?" I pointed with my thumb at some direction behind me.

"Sure."

"If you don't mind, may I join as well."

"No problem Pyrrha. The more the merrier."

* * *

**AN: This is a side project testing various other writing styles.**

**My profile page has extra stuff if you want to see more on my thoughts of my stories.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The movie life **

**Chapter 2**

We arrived at a café soon afterwards. Ordering the freshest pint of milk for Blake and some good old water for myself and Pyrrha, I carefully walked my way over to the small table. Pyrrha and Blake were sort of awkwardly ignoring each other. Come to think of it they don't actually talk to each other much.

Well, today is a day of firsts then because we can all hang out together.

"Jaune," Pyrrha greeted. "I assume you had no trouble?"

"No trouble on my end though the server looked at me funnily when I just ordered milk and water. He probably doesn't get that combination very often." I placed our drinks and Blake happily gulped her milk. She left a milk moustache behind which Pyrrha and I both noticed, and we struggled to keep our laughter in.

"What are you two laughing at?"

Oh Blake, your grumpy face doesn't suit with a milk moustache.

"Blake," I said. "You might want to wipe your mouth. You'll leave a stain if you leave it any longer."

She flushed obviously realising what transpired and hastily brought out her handkerchief.

"I didn't expect you to have a side like that, Blake." said Pyrrha. "Is milk really that good?"

"Any good?" Uh oh, I can feel the beginnings of a speech here. "Milk and tuna are the best you can have. Healthy and tasty. Just what I want."

She went on a rant about how superior milk is to our ordinary water. Pyrrha seemed out her depth here. I don't blame her. I never had someone go on an extensive list of the qualities of milk towards me either.

Well until now that is.

"...the texture is incomparable to any other liquid you would try in your entire life and-"

"OK OK, we get it. Milk is a good drink." I said amusingly. Blake huffed out.

"The best. And even better when it's free. Haven't you ever had those milk cartons they gave out in kindergarten. You wouldn't believe the amount of scrambling we did just to get one."

"I must confess I never did attend kindergarten." Pyrrha said. "I was raised to learn how to fight. Not that it was bad of course!" She raised her hands probably to convince us that she's telling the truth. "All our meals were already decided for us and milk was never on the menu. I think I first tried some when I was around 13. That was a good year. That was the first time I won the yearly Mistral regional tournament." She smiled fondly and I couldn't help but smile as well.

"So why did you move to Vale then anyway?" I asked curiously.

From what I remember of Mistal, it was culturally rich kingdom that was tied in with myths and legends. They're a mixture of modern and old, where weapons were designed more archaic than what you would find in Vale. I actually wanted to visit there because they're the most tourist friendly of the four kingdoms.

"Just wanted a change of pace and possibly meet new people." She played with the ring of the cup. "Say Jaune, what's your relationship with Blake? You seem to know her fairly well despite being on different teams."

Blake raised an eyebrow at that. To be fair to Pyrrha, she does raise a good point.

"Ah, that's because she's been helping me with my lines. There were some scenes that were pretty hard to practice on my own and Blake volunteered to help."

Blake shrugged. "Ruby would be upset if Jaune messed up."

"Oh so nothing more than that?"

"Just friends," replied Blake.

Pyrrha relaxed at that. I didn't realise how tense she was until she actually settled back. What's eating her? She's been like that ever since I started helping Ruby.

I decided I'll confront her later about it in a more private area.

It was then that the apple of my eye gracefully stepped through the entrance. Weiss, in her lovely white dress, swiveled her head searching for something before spotting us at the far side of the café.

I put on my game face as she approached. Now usually I might try out my killer lines but I'm feeling my inner detective Jaune leaking out. My killer lines don't exactly work as planned but I'm willing to try out a few new approaches. I settled on my newly invented suave Jaune.

Watch smooth talking Jaune work his way in to a fair ladies heart.

An exaggerated flick of my hair and a smile that puts celebrities to shame. Oh yeah, I'm ready.

"Weiss," I called. "have you seen the calendar? Because I see a date with you and me in it."

One of my better lines if I do say so myself. Heck even Blake and Pyrrha must had been impressed because they had a shocked look on their face.

Weiss gave me the ever classic glare she reserves only for me and I smiled deeper.

"I'm not here for you Jaune. Blake, Ruby wants you with something."

"Why didn't she just contact me on my scroll?

"Ruby, being the ditz she is, left it in our room. She had to send me over to come fetch you and her scroll."

Blake nodded and downed the rest of her milk. She very carefully wiped her mouth making sure it was milk free.

"Oh Jaune," said Blake. "You're denser than a brick."

What the? Why did Blake say that?

Well whatever she's gone now anyway.

I turned to Pyrrha about to say something before I noticed her sour face.

"Hey Pyrrha what's wrong?"

She sighed. "Nothing Jaune."

She's obviously not OK. Her back is hunched over and she looks more defeated than actually losing a training spar.

Damn, what can I do to cheer her up.

I didn't have much time to think on it because my scroll vibrated. It was a message from Yang. Filming was resuming.

That was quick.

I told Pyrrha we were filming. She nodded and we headed off to the stage.

Everyone was busy when we had arrived. Ruby was chatting to Nora excitedly with Ren hanging to the side while the rest of team RWBY bar Blake were talking amongst themselves.

"Hey guys!" I waved. "Did we miss anything?"

"Jaune!" Ruby made a dash for us. "I found out why some of our script changed. We're not the only team in Beacon that's entered the filming competition. Team CRDL and some others were filming as well and Cardin being the jerk he is messed with our script. Oh, if I can get my hands on him,"

She made some strangulation noises and clamped her hands on her own neck.

"What! Did you do anything about it?" I asked.

"Oh don't worry," Ruby smiled a glinting smile that looked entirely too intimidating on a 15 year old girl. "I've sent someone to...deal with it."

Note to self, never piss off Ruby.

"Oh OK, well everything is fixed now right?" I asked.

She nodded quickly "Totally! Blake isn't here yet so let's move onto the next big scene."

Yang while flicking through the script walked over to us.

"Hey sis?"

"What's up Yang?"

"It says in the script that I end up finding my mom. That's cool and all but who's playing her?"

"Isn't it obvious? You are!"

Yang frowned. "How's that going to work? Everyone already has their roles."

"Don't worry I thought this through. We pretty much finished all of your parts, so we're going to dye your hair black, then we'll record your lines. Do some editing magic and presto we have to two of the same people on the same screen."

"Yeah, no Ruby. My hair is too precious to just blacken like that. Do you know how long it will take to make it look this good again after dyeing it?"

"20 minutes?"

Yang stared at her blankly. "Remind me to give you more lessons on makeup. You know far too little. Heck, I bet Jaune knows more about makeup than you."

The funny thing was is that she's right. All those times back home with my sinister seven sisters caused me to know more than the average guy about make up. My mind flashed back, the pink lipstick, the horrible eyeliner and the purple nails, oh the evilness my sisters can inflict on me with those dreaded nail painters.

"Please, sis. We only got a few weeks. You got to do this, I won't bother you with homework again."

It's pretty amazing how effective Ruby can be when she's weaponizing her puppy eyes. I bet even Grimm would hesitate to attack her like that.

Yang faltered under her stare and I could see her begin to sweat.

Ha, even Yang's semblance can't take these hits.

After a tense silent battle, Yang slumped.

"OK OK, you win. But I expect no badgering from you and I'm dyeing my hair by myself. Who knows how badly you'll mess up if you helped. It might be like when you first met with Weiss. Can you imagine the explosion of colours?"

"Yay! Besty sister ever!" Ruby leaped and glomped onto Yang.

"Woah," Yang stumbled a bit from the force but returned her hug with equal force. "Alright I'll go dye my hair now. Be back whenever."

With that she strode off.

"What now?" I asked

"Filming of course! We need some shots of you jumping into trash."

"..."

"Jaune?"

I sighed.

I felt Pyrrha's hand on my shoulder and she gave me a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Jaune. I'll grab a change of clothes."

"Thanks Pyrrha. You're the best." She smiled a real smile and I couldn't help but grin at her.

"Enough chit-chat, we got ourselves a film to make."

The next hour continued with me taking a swimmer's dives into piles of garbage. Thankfully Ruby had enough mercy to pick softer waste for me to go through. This included some leftover pies, mattresses and strangely enough something that looks suspicious similar to Cardin's jacket.

Well I'm not gonna mention that to him anyway. Let him discover it for himself.

Eventually Ruby called the whole thing off. "I think that's good enough," shouted Ruby. "Jaune, excellent job dumpster diving. I thought you were a real hobo there."

"That's not a compliment I want to hear."

"Tut tut Jaune, compliments depends on context as well."

Pyrrha, being the amazing girl she is, already had a wet towel and bottle of water ready for me. I can finally get that nasty gunk out of my mouth.

Ruby reached into her pockets and pulled out her scroll.

"Guys, I just got a message from Blake. She said she'll be back in 30 minutes. Everyone take a break until then! We'll resume in 30 minutes."

"Oh thank you. I needed a break." As it turns out, dumpster diving required a lot of effort to actually do.

I took off to a nearby shower room. At this hour, no one would be using them leaving me to have all the privacy I want.

I have to say it was the best shower in my life. Watching bits of pastry wash off me was like what a baby chick feels when it emerges from its egg.

I switched off the tap and reached for the towel.

Which I forget to bring with me.

Right, OK no problem. I'm soaking wet and I'm not wearing dirty clothes right after I washed myself. I obviously can't go to the public like this but I could contact Ren to fetch a towel for me for me.

Except his scroll is out for repairs.

OK, I call my other male friends...

I really need to get to know more guys. I have too many female companions.

Pyrrha, I'll contact her and get her to get Ren to get me a towel. Yes a foolproof plan. Nothing can go wrong.

Absolutely nothing at all.

* * *

**AN: New chapter guys. **

**The image of Blake with a milk moustache will never leave you.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The movie life**

**Chapter 3**

"Thanks Ren," I said gratefully. "You saved me a bunch with this." Ren nodded and headed away.

To be honest, I actually didn't expect for things to work out this well. After messaging Pyrrha she got Ren to help me out. He came in, gave me a change of clothes and the towel.

Just like that.

Huh, weird. My life is usually messier than that. Not going to complain of course but I sort of expected someone unrelated to barge in. Then my face would turn red in embarrassment. Then we wouldn't be able to face each other without remembering the incident then that would lead to some other development.

Well that sort of cliché event only happens in stories anyway. This is real life, not some television show.

I arrived back on the stage with a smile on my face. Despite the clumsy start I've really been enjoying acting. Putting yourself in someone else's shoes and giving that character life. It was enthralling on a level I never experienced before. Fighting off Grimm doesn't even compare, well actually it's more fairer to say battling Grimm brings about a different excitement. Nevertheless, I can admit when the competition is over I'm going to miss these days.

I was the last one to arrive back. Ren and Nora were busy with some stage props. They were in charge of building them as well as stage effects. Nothing against Nora but I wouldn't really trust her with special effects. She'll probably make a smoke bomb strong enough to engulf the whole of Beacon. Good thing Ren is there to reign her in.

Ruby spotted my arrival and dashed her way with her semblance. A trail of wind and petals were left in her wake.

"Jaune! Just in time. Blake's ready to go so get up there and go act." Her sunshine enthusiasm will never cease to improve my mood. I gave her my confident smile #14, hopefully there won't be any other trouble.

Yang entered my field of view. I came to a sudden halt at what I saw.

Yang, noticing my staring, raised an eyebrow at me.

"You got something to say Jaune?" Her tone was friendly but I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that if I say the wrong thing about her hair she'll cheerfully stick my head through a wall.

"Uh, nice hair?" I honestly prefer the blonde to the black hair she's now sporting. Not that it's bad or anything but it's like eating sugar and then finding out it tastes completely bitter. The shock to my expectations just grounded my senses to a stop.

"Are you being sarcastic?"

I feel like I'm hanging on a cliff with one arm here.

"No! It's just...different. I mean, I reckon that blonde suits you more. Blonde goes well with your personality. Just seeing you with black hair, well it's strange."

"Strange?"

"Good strange" I replied quickly. "Very good strange, like best kind of strange."

She held her intense gaze and I could feel sweat forming on my forehead.

"Ah Jaune, I'm just kidding with you." She threw an arm around my shoulders. She's heavy.

Not that I'll admit that to her. I value my life after all.

"I prefer my awesome blonde hair as well, but you saw how convincing Ruby can be."

Yeah, no kidding. If this was some cliché high school show, she would have a fan club filled with her devoted followers. Actually that sounds more like Pyrrha. It's not obvious but I could tell the awe of the other students when she walks by. Now that I think about it, she probably does have a fan club back in Mistral. Maybe she has one in Vale as well.

We had to end our conversation after that. We got a movie to film.

Spoke (or thought?) too soon. As Blake got on the stage the double doors blasted open revealing Cardin and his crew behind him. A gust of wind blew into the room and their hair ruffled along with it.

He scanned through our group before his eyes settled on me.

"Jaune Arc!" Cardin voice echoed throughout the stage. "I challenge you!"

To a card game? Jokes aside, what did he mean by that? To a spar maybe? I've improved a lot thanks to Pyrrha but I'm not on the level where I could easily defeat him.

"To what!?" I echoed back.

He very slowly pointed at me. "You're the lead in a movie. I'm a lead in a movie. You might had bested me in that forest, but being a hunter isn't all about fighting. It's about charisma. It's about convincing the audience you're a step above the others. Jaune Arc, I will prove to you that I am superior to you in that aspect."

That was such a grandiose speech for something so small. Also just for the record, I'm way more charming than Cardin. Like, it's not even fair to compare us together. I have more than twice the amount of girls who are friends with me than he does with a tangible relationship with any girl, and that includes antagonistic ones.

"And how would we even compete? It's not like there's a universal protagonist scale we could use."

He shook his head. "Tut tut, Jaune I thought you were smarter than that. At the award ceremony there's going to be a winner on best leading actor. I think you see where I'm going with this."

"You want to see which of us gets that prize?"

"Preciously. Winner gets bragging rights!" Damn, I better win this. I don't think I could deal with Cardin's postulating his superiority for the rest of my school year "While I'm at it I might as well defeat your team's movie in the best picture award."

Ruby's pride insulted, she indignantly marched to the front of our group.

"No way is your team going to beat us!" She pointed directly in Cardin's face. "Team RWBY and JNPR are gonna rock the ceremony away."

"Ohoho, this one thinks she something else." Cardin nudged Russel in the side. Russel broke out into over-hyped laughter. I wonder if they practised that, there's no way someone can laugh that artificially without preparation.

"You'll see! Oh and I found out about your little sabotage in our scripts." Ruby smirked. So they were the ones responsible. Wait, what did Blake do to 'deal' with them?

"Hm? Fixed it already huh? No problem, we don't need to cheat to win. Especially if the director is a pint-sized squirt."

"Why you-"

"Don't worry about it Ruby." Blake voice rang clearly. She had a hand on Ruby's shoulder preventing her from moving forward. "I've already exacted the necessary punishment for thinking they could take advantage of us."

Cardin eyes widened then narrowed then widened again. Jeez, he must take eye exercises seriously.

Cardin gripped his hands tightly. "What did you do?"

"You'll find out." she answered in deathly tone. "Now leave. Unlike you we're actually busy with things."

Whoo, go Blake, that was badass.

Cardin sneered before retreating. He shot one last glare at me as he left. His teammates followed behind like trained robots.

"I can't take it anymore!" shouted Ruby. "Jaune, this has to be a masterpiece. There's no way I'm losing to him."

I raised both my hands up to prevent her from getting closer. "OK OK, I got it." Why is she picking on me?

She nodded quickly. "Good. Everybody into positions. We're going to nail this scene."

We all gave our agreement and soon the camera rolled on. Pyrrha wished me a good luck and I thanked her for it. Hmm, I should get her something nice.

She deserves it.

I turned to face Blake. Ren had already set the lights to grey scale. Last time she dispersed in a puff of smoke and said something about clones, hopefully we're going to get this down to a T. Right focus Jaune. Visualise the moment.

...

...

"Well you pegged me as the right guy then." I replied gruffly. "How did you know I took this case. Barely hours had gone past and here you are."

"...I have my ways."

"Well isn't that ominous." I stared into her wild yellow eyes. They say the eyes are a window to the soul and I couldn't agree more. This girl had too many emotions running in her eyes. Was it fear? Anticipation? Hatred? I wasn't sure and I didn't want to find out.

"I'm not going to drop this case. My next meal is riding on this."

"Your next _meal_?" She grit her teeth hard enough I could hear scraping. "Jaune, your life is at stake. Don't do this. This case has too many spiders in it, too many animals have sunk their teeth in."_  
_

I stopped to look at her, really look at her. I gazed at her form and she froze like a statue.

More importantly than her warning...

Where did I hear her voice before?

Somewhere deep in the locked up memories of mine, a creaky recollection stirred. I don't typically dwell in my past, too many bad memories, but this girl, whoever she is, evokes a strong nostalgia in me.

It was a feeling I deeply missed.

"Who are you?" I asked flatly. A simple three word question that held so much meaning to me if only because of these twisting emotions inside of me.

"No one important." she softly whispered. The gentle breeze caressed her bow and I felt the flutter of a spark in my heart.

"That bull!" Some dogs barked in the background but I paid it no heed. Not when this is happening. "There's no way that's true. I know you from somewhere. Somewhere important."

She smiled a sad smile. "It's fine if you don't remember. Just know that I care about you, and I'm telling you to drop this case."

I went over to reach her. To search that lost recollection.

And she jumped away out of my reach and out of my hands.

"Stay safe." she said.

I watched her retreating figure until she became indistinguishable from shadows.

"Just who are you?"

The freezing wind blew at me in response.

...

...

"Guys? You're not saying anything?" Was my performance bad? I put my all into this. I don't want to disappoint them.

"That was amazing!" "Good Job!" "We'll break their legs!"

All at once, they shouted their compliments. I couldn't help but flush over the praise.

Throughout my life I hadn't really ever been praised over anything. Too average in some areas or just downright horrible in others, well except dancing I guess. People never expected much from me. I'm too much of a Joe Schmoe even if I'm from the Arc family.

"Hmph, that wasn't too bad." Weiss complimented, actually complimented me.

I-I, damn I'm not going to cry.

Damn it I'm crying.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha's alarmed voice jerked my head up.

"It's nothing guys. Just I'm glad I met all of you."

We done some more filming after that. Needless to say, we had a blast and it wasn't until late at night we finished.

I was walking down the dimly lit hallway by myself. The others had already packed up and headed off to their dorms for some well deserved rest.

I glimpsed a figure ahead of me and it wasn't until she passed the dull lights that I recognised her.

"Velvet!" The second year startled and turned swiftly towards me.

"Oh Jaune. You surprised me. How are you?"

"Not too bad. We just had a good day filming for the movie competition. You wouldn't expect it from her but Ruby is surprising good at writing scripts. I was really shocked when she asked me for the lead role, but I gave it a try. I have to say it's a great feeling just standing there in front of a crowd capturing their interests."

"You're entering the competition? My team is doing so as well. I didn't want to play a role, but Coco brought me around to it."

Wonder what role Velvet is going to play. She seems the sort to play a supporting character so I guess she'll stick to that role. "Wow! What's you movie going to be about?"

Her bunny ears drooped and she leaned in. Her hand cupped over her mouth. "Sorry can't say." she whispered. "Top secret. Coco forbid everyone from mentioning it. Don't worry, you'll get your chance to see it at the award ceremony."

Fair enough, Ruby didn't want us to spill the beans for our movie either.

We made some more small talk, and she left when she realised how late it was.

I wonder how many other teams are entering the competition.

* * *

**AN: So I finally decided what I'm going to do with this story. Each team will cover a genre in their movie. Jaune will be crime/mystery in film noir style. CRDL, CFVY, SSSN and Cinder's group will each have their own movie in their own genre. What the genre is for them? You'll have to wait for me to update to find out.**


End file.
